May 8, 2006

A Dying Nation's Schizophrenia

Here's good news for everyone who never liked Germans in the first place: We're dying out. With a birth rate of only 1.3 children per woman, way below the "replacement level" of 2.1, in only 12 generations there won't be any Germans left.

But long before the last of the Germans wanders the empty streets of Berlin, the country will already feel the demographic pain. Its expensive social welfare system is based on a fictional generation contract. In theory, the young and the able are supposed to finance with their work the old and disabled. However, if there are fewer contributors, the system is bound to break down.

The country has finally begun to face this hard truth. But the current passionate debate about how to raise the birth rate reveals a rather conservative streak in Germany's society. The focus is solely on why women fail to deliver the next generation of tax payers. There is usually no mention at all of the (lacking) contribution from men. Luckily for them, they are not accused of being childless. In 21st century Germany, childbearing has become a women-exclusive topic.

It is true that about a quarter of German women stay childless and the number is rising. Among university graduates the rate is 40%. But looking at the statistics of childless men, we find some interesting -- and in discussions often suppressed -- figures: They outnumber childless women. So, whose problem is it really?

The clash between traditionalism and modernity has not yet really been resolved in Germany and it often leads to the schizophrenic situation that women are criticized no matter what they do. A working mother is still regarded as a lousy mom, a "Rabenmutter," a term for which there is no equivalence in other languages. Many Germans still believe that without the mother's full-time, around-the-clock attention, the child will be psychologically damaged.

At the same time, though, if women decide against a career and stay at home for their families, they receive no respect from society either. Not to mention women who pursue a career without having children or neither work nor have children. They are even further down the social ladder.

Compare this to the situation in neighboring France, for example, where a working mother receives society's full recognition -- and support. It is not unusual but normal for children to attend day-care centers from very early on and that mothers return to work soon after giving birth.

In Germany, there is no such country-wide day-care infrastructure. The few available places are often too expensive for the average family. In addition, labor laws are inflexible and the tax system sets incentives for only one partner, usually the man, to work. As a consequence, the birth rate is falling. Whereas Germany concentrates on a policy more appropriate for the traditional one-income-family from the '50s, France focuses on a policy more appropriate for the modern family. The effect in France: The birth-rate is rising.

Society's prejudices are also reproduced in the country's political landscape. With Angela Merkel, Germany has its first female leader, a fact that might point to progress. But she owes much of her successes to the fact that she was constantly underestimated, both within her party and by the political opponents. Most importantly, she appeared rather unfeminine, almost androgyne, and thus not a threat to Germany's male political class. When her role as a woman was looked at, it was often to point out that she was childless, a fact that certainly didn't help her election campaign. That her opponent, Gerhard Schröder, was in his fourth marriage and still without children of his own was not held against him -- if it was mentioned at all. Only now, that Ms. Merkel has been elected, does she seem to feel comfortable enough to show her feminine side as well.

The difference to Ségolène Royal, France's female contender to the presidency, couldn't be greater. In March, 70% of the population approved of her candidacy. The elegant and feminine Ms. Royal, an unmarried mother of four children, would be hardly suitable for a public office in Germany. Consider the fact that Ms. Merkel felt it necessary to marry her partner of many years just shortly before the elections.

Now in power, the chancellor seems to be determined to change the fate of working women. Last week, the coalition government agreed on so-called "Elterngeld," or parental money, an allowance for parents who take time off to look after their newborns. There's one hitch, though: It will only be paid for the maximum period of 14 months if both partners, i.e. also the father, take time off. Otherwise, the money will be granted only for 12 months. This incentive for fathers to get more involved in family affairs as well is certainly welcome. But it will probably still lead to a situation where it is the mother who will have to make the biggest career sacrifices.

Back in the Stone Age, the concept was simple: The woman stayed in the cave while the men went hunting. In today's Germany, the roles society has assigned to men and women are only slightly more sophisticated. In the age of globalization, though, we need to update this sclerotic cliché.

Ms. Koch-Mehrin, deputy head of the liberal group in the European Parliament, is the mother of two daughters.